Peru Travel Guide

Peru — Food and Dining

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Cuisine

The hot and spicy nature of Peruvian food, created by ají and ajo (hot pepper and garlic), has become celebrated at home and abroad. Peruvians enjoy a wide variety of vegetables; there are over 2,000 kinds of indigenous and cultivated potatoes alone. Table service is the norm in hotels and restaurants and many also offer buffet-type lunches.

National specialties:
• Ceviche (uncooked fish marinated in lemon or lime juice and hot chilli pepper).
• Chupe de camarones (chowder-type soup made with shrimps, milk, eggs, potatoes and peppers).
• Causa relleña (potato cakes with chicken in the center, but also cooked with avocado or crabmeat).
• Tamales (boiled corn dumplings filled with meat and wrapped in a banana leaf).
• Mazamorra morada (purple maize and sweet potato starch jelly cooked with lemons, dried fruits, cinnamon and cloves).

National drinks:
• Pisco sour (bittersweet cocktail made from a potent grape brandy).
• Other pisco-based drinks are algarrobina (pisco and carob syrup), chilcano (pisco and ginger ale) and capitán (pisco and vermouth).
• Chicha de jora (fermented corn juice) and chicha morada (non-alcoholic purple corn juice) are popular drinks dating from Inca times.
• Peruvian beers and wines are good.

Legal drinking age: 18.

Tipping: Service charges of 10% are added to bills. Additional tips of 5-10% are expected in better restaurants, while rounding up the bill or adding a few Soles is appreciated in small restaurants.

Nightlife

There are many good bars, pubs, discos and casinos in the major towns and tourist resorts. Peñas always serve snacks and some serve full meals. Here you can enjoy criolla or folk music, especially at weekends. Nightlife in Lima and Cusco has a wide array of choices, as do the beach towns of Asia and Mancora. Strict dress codes and entrance prices that go as high as 50 Soles are common in upscale Lima nightspots, while in other towns standards and prices are considerably lower. Most discos, peñas, pubs and karaoke bars are open until 0300 or 0400.